Speaking to IGN about the differences in approach to the character of Luke Skywalker between J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson, Hamill suddenly changed tack, and explained:

"I happen to know that George didn't kill Luke until the end of [Episode] 9, after he trained Leia. Which is another thread that was never played upon [in The Last Jedi]."

This is the first time we've heard that Lucas intended to end the 'Skywalker Saga' with Luke's death. While the original Extended Universe saw Leia trained as a Jedi Knight (although not by Luke), it also hadn't been publicly mooted as part of the films' storyline.

Similarities remain in The Last Jedi – Luke seems to have met his end a film earlier than Lucas planned for, and Leia does (somewhat controversially) show her skill with the Force – but it's clear that Lucas had different plans for the returning characters.

Star Wars The Last Jedi Deleted Scenes

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Alternate Opening:

"It was kind of the thing where once we got into the cutting room and played with it a little bit, we kind of realized we just wanted to cut to the chase. There's that classic advice: You want to make any script better chop off the first three pages," Johnson said. "It just didn't have the directness we needed so cleverness lost."

The Last Jedi was supposed to open with Finn waking up in sickbay. Part of this scene is now later in Act One. Although there are many unfinished visual effects in the scene, we transition from the opening crawl to the Resistance ships and Finn coming to after having been hospitalized post-Force Awakens. He looks out the window of the ship and sees the Resistance fleet, which is soon met by the First Order coming out of hyperspace.

01 OF 17

Alternate Opening:

"It was kind of the thing where once we got into the cutting room and played with it a little bit, we kind of realized we just wanted to cut to the chase. There's that classic advice: You want to make any script better chop off the first three pages," Johnson said. "It just didn't have the directness we needed so cleverness lost."

The Last Jedi was supposed to open with Finn waking up in sickbay. Part of this scene is now later in Act One. Although there are many unfinished visual effects in the scene, we transition from the opening crawl to the Resistance ships and Finn coming to after having been hospitalized post-Force Awakens. He looks out the window of the ship and sees the Resistance fleet, which is soon met by the First Order coming out of hyperspace.

Star Wars The Last Jedi Deleted Scenes

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It's not quite clear which of Lucas' Episode 9s this particular ending comes from. The Star Wars creator's plans for a sequel trilogy were many and varied – before Disney bought the rights and made one itself.

Before Return of the Jedi had been written, Hamill said he had seen 12-page outlines for each of Lucas' Episodes 7-9. However, Lucas seemingly abandoned the idea, and incorporated many elements – including the idea that Luke had an estranged sister – into Jedi instead.

Lucas continued to hint at his ideas for a sequel trilogy over the years, from the familiar (Luke, Leia and Han returning as characters later in their lives) to the less familiar (a fractured Empire has devolved into individual tyrannical worlds). However, the critical reception to his prequel trilogy apparently all-but killed off Lucas' drive to continue with the series for some time.

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Many of the suggested story ideas are seemingly contradictory, indicating that Lucas never had a set plan. Pre-Disney takeover, Hamill had said that Lucas' idea was to have Luke returning for a cameo in Lucas' Episode 9, but his new comments seem to indicate a much more central role.

More generally, Hamill compared the approaches between Lucas and Disney's Star Wars films:

"George had an overall arc – if he didn't have all the details, he had sort of an overall feel for where the [sequel trilogy was] going – but this one's more like a relay race. You run and hand the torch off to the next guy, he picks it up and goes.

"Ryan didn't write what happens in 9 – he was going to hand it off to, originally, Colin Trevorrow and now J.J. [...] It's an ever-evolving, living, breathing thing. Whoever's onboard gets to play with the life-size action figures that we all are."

Hamill remains unsure about whether he'll be returning in some form for Episode 9 – "No one's really talked to me about it" – but he isn't holding back his opinions on where Star Wars should go. Some of those opinions are more outlandish than others, like the Force Ghost horror movie he told us he wants to see.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he has seen a lot of pictures of Carrie Fisher with lightsabers in preparation for this story. It was good to research. Follow him on Twitter.